kerry, playing romney in mock debates. kerry knows romney well. they are long-time massachusetts politicians and, of course, kerry knows his way around a presidential debate because he went up against george w. bush in 2004. the reason the obama campaign is working so hard to play down expectations is because they like the trajectory of the race right now and don't want to do anything to change that. norah and charlie? >> no doubt. nancy cordes, thank you. both sides are trying to lower expectations for the debate. any misstep has the potential to derail a campaign. and both candidates have both good and bad moments from their debate history. >> john, you're absolutely right that presidents have to be prudent in what they say. but, you know, coming from you, you know, in the past threaten extinction for north korea and sung songs about bombing iran, i don't know how credible that is. >> he's very likable. i agree with that. i don't think i'm that bad. >> you're likable enough. >> thank you. i appreciate that. >> mr. speake